Matthew 2, 16-23 + CSDC and CV 

(CV 2b) Love is God's greatest gift to humanity, it is his promise and our hope. I am aware of the ways in which charity has been and continues to be misconstrued and emptied of meaning, with the consequent risk of being misinterpreted, detached from ethical living and, in any event, undervalued. In the social, juridical, cultural, political and economic fields — the contexts, in other words, that are most exposed to this danger — it is easily dismissed as irrelevant for interpreting and giving direction to moral responsibility. Hence the need to link charity with truth not only in the sequence, pointed out by Saint Paul, of veritas in caritate (Eph 4:15), but also in the inverse and complementary sequence of caritas in veritate. 

Social doctrine of the Church: promotion of an integral and solidary humanism

CSDC 7a. The Christian knows that in the social doctrine of the Church can be found the principles for reflection, the criteria for judgment and the directives for action which are the starting point for the promotion of an integral and solidary humanism. Making this doctrine known constitutes, therefore, a genuine pastoral priority, so that men and women will be enlightened by it and will be thus enabled to interpret today's reality and seek appropriate paths of action: “The teaching and spreading of her social doctrine are part of the Church's evangelizing mission”[5].

Notes: [5] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 41: AAS 80 (1988), 571-572.

(Mt 2, 16-23) Trafficking in human beings, child soldiers, exploitation of workers

[16] When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. [17] Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: [18] "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." [19] When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt [20] and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child's life are dead." [21] He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. [22] But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. [23] He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He shall be called a Nazorean."

CSDC 158. The solemn proclamation of human rights is contradicted by a painful reality of violations, wars and violence of every kind, in the first place, genocides and mass deportations, the spreading on a virtual worldwide dimension of ever new forms of slavery such as trafficking in human beings, child soldiers, the exploitation of workers, illegal drug trafficking, prostitution. “Even in countries with democratic forms of government, these rights are not always fully respected”.[331] Unfortunately, there is a gap between the “letter” and the “spirit” of human rights,[332] which can often be attributed to a merely formal recognition of these rights. The Church's social doctrine, in consideration of the privilege accorded by the Gospel to the poor, repeats over and over that “the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their goods more generously at the service of others” and that an excessive affirmation of equality “can give rise to an individualism in which each one claims his own rights without wishing to be answerable for the common good”.[333]

  

Notes: [331] John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 47: AAS 83 (1991), 852. [332] Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptor Hominis, 17: AAS 71 (1979), 295-300. [333] Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Octogesima dveniens, 23: AAS 63 (1971), 418. 

 

[Initials and Abbreviations.- CSDC: Pontifical Council for Justice And Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church; -  SDC: Social Doctrine of the Church; - CV: Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in truth)]